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	<title>Daniel McKenzie</title>
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		<title>Monaco 2011</title>
		<link>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/monaco-2011/</link>
		<comments>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/monaco-2011/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 04 Jun 2011 19:49:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Formula 3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Monaco 2011]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Race Reports 2011]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[daniel mckenzie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monaco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World Series by Renault]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/?p=1008</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Racing at Monaco is something that not many people get the chance to do, so going to the circuit in a World Series car for the first time can only make you feel a bit tense! I have dreamt of driving this circuit for many years and finally I got the opportunity to race there. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a  rel="attachment wp-att-1018" href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/monaco-2011/attachment/screen-shot-2011-06-04-at-20-45-42/"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1018" title="Screen shot 2011-06-04 at 20.45.42" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Screen-shot-2011-06-04-at-20.45.42-298x450.png" alt="" width="298" height="450" /></a>Racing at Monaco is something that not many people get the chance to do, so going to the circuit in a World Series car for the first time can only make you feel a bit tense! I have dreamt of driving this circuit for many years and finally I got the opportunity to race there.</p>
<p>The circuit in general is a pretty slow speed track due to the amount of corners and small straights. At the beginning of every race event, Monaco is always very dusty and dirty as it has had a year’s worth of casual everyday driving on it. Going into the practice session I was briefed on keeping the car out of the barriers and making sure I had maximum track time. I had to take a pretty strict mindset into practice so I made use of every minute to my disposal rather than pushing too early and having a shunt.</p>
<p><span id="more-1008"></span></p>
<p>The format of the weekend is a bit unusual compared to normal, as we only have one 45 minute practice followed by one 25 minute qualifying and after only one 45 minute race, all of which is open downforce. The practice session for me went fairly steady and I was just enjoying familiarising myself with the circuit. I didn’t use any new tyres as I didn’t think I would get the best out of them since I was learning a new track in a limited amount of time. I kept out of the barriers unlike a few and ended up around 23<sup>rd</sup>. I am never worried about practice times as they don’t correlate to qualifying pace, also not running new tyres has meant that I can carry that set over to the next race meeting at Nurburgring.</p>
<p>The qualifying is set in a different format at Monaco as having 26 cars going for a qualifying time would be mayhem. So the groups were set into two with the quickest time out of both sessions putting that “quickest session” to start on pole followed by the other quickest driver and so on merging the sessions together. Qualifying went ok with steady improvements over the session but I did find it hard to get in a rhythm in the shorter amount of time. I ended up 13<sup>th</sup> in my group with a few tenth putting me a few places higher which is a good improvement over practice but not good enough in general. I needed a few more laps to find my groove but this was not going to be the case. I was quicker than a few in the other group which could of put me around the 10<sup>th</sup> spot which would have been around 20<sup>th</sup> on the grid if I was in group A but with group B being quicker this put me to the back of the grid.</p>
<p>After a disappointing qualifying I had a good hope in making some places up in the race. I knew that with 45 minutes of racing on one set of tyres as there was no mandatory pitstops, mistakes would be made throughout the race. The start of the race went very well and I made about 3-4 places by the first corner but with various people cutting the corner I lost out on the hard work that was the start! For the most of the first lap I was side by side with my teammate fighting for position and was unlucky with another car going slightly wide and stopping myself from accelerating out of the corner.</p>
<p>The first part of the race I found myself getting up to speed and improving on my lap time in qualifying which was good on older tyres and was making good progress. The problem came when there was a hefty crash which brought out a safety car, I managed to get stuck behind it as it came out of the pits and did not release me from behind it until ¾ of the way round the circuit! This lost me valuable time to the pack that I had to make up under the full course yellow flag situation. I continued to follow my team mate as we restarted the race and after finding more pace throughout the race I was pushing for another place higher. I managed to get very near to my teammate which put him under pressure, and so forcing him into a mistake which gave me a place up. The last part of the race brought out another safety car which a crash which gave me time to catch up to the group in head. I managed to on the restart to find some more pace which put me up a few more places with forced errors of drivers in front and while dodging various other incidents the chequered flag came out.</p>
<p>Over the entire race went well with little errors from me and collecting up places from various other incidents and moves made by myself. I ended up 15<sup>th</sup> overall with a lot of people in front getting time penalties for cutting chicanes I narrowly missed making up 3-4 places which could of put me very close to the 10<sup>th</sup> spot. I was also the 4<sup>th</sup> rookie in that race which is a decent effort but still not the rookie podium!</p>
<p>I have to say the whole weekend was fantastic with such a great atmosphere. The public were great and I really enjoyed being there. Being a rookie in this championship is tough but also not racing on a circuit before is even tougher. A very hard challenge but I did made good progress over the weekend. I am looking forward to the next race at Nurburgring, a circuit I know and have raced on with one of the longest circuits in the world only a matter of meters away. I have a three week gap now which a lot of gym work will be enjoyed!</p>

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		<title>Monza 2011</title>
		<link>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/monza-2011/</link>
		<comments>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/monza-2011/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:47:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Formula 3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Monza 2011]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Race Reports 2011]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[daniel mckenzie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World Series by Renault]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WSR]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/?p=993</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Monza is one of the oldest of circuits still being raced on. It has massive amounts of history and many famous corners that you will see some of the biggest crashes on YouTube! It is an extremely quick circuit to drive on and one of the most challenging, at the same time it has to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a  rel="attachment wp-att-998" href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/monza-2011/attachment/screen-shot-2011-06-03-at-23-19-19/"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-998" title="Screen shot 2011-06-03 at 23.19.19" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Screen-shot-2011-06-03-at-23.19.19-450x303.png" alt="" width="450" height="303" /></a>Monza is one of the oldest of circuits still being raced on. It has massive amounts of history and many famous corners that you will see some of the biggest crashes on YouTube! It is an extremely quick circuit to drive on and one of the most challenging, at the same time it has to be one of the most enjoyable!</p>
<p><span id="more-993"></span></p>
<p>The weather at Monza was very hot averaging at around 34 degrees which creates a bit of an issue with the tyres over heating but the grip that would be seen is quite high. Due to the World Touring car championship and Auto GP being at Monza at the same time the pit garages were very tight and cramped, this meant no pit-stop race on the weekend and the downforce level was open to whatever is decided to be suitable.</p>
<p>The first practice as always is to get familiar with the circuit and the car’s handling. I felt after practice one we had a little bit of work to do set-up wise but it wasn’t a major issue. I ended up 25<sup>th</sup> and 1.9 of the quickest. The second practice I had a few issues with the braking at this circuit and I really didn’t feel comfortable in the car, this is something I had to look into over night but had the knowledge of the lap few laps of the practice getting more used to a different technique that I had to change to. I had a similar difference in pace to the front runners after practice 2 and ended up in the same place.</p>
<p>With these issues looked into over night I felt more confident in the car during the first qualifying which enabled myself to find a lot of pace. I gained a decent junk of laptime and climbed a few places higher to 23<sup>rd</sup> and 1.5 off the pole time. It was a close session with 0.2 putting me inside the top 20.</p>
<p>The first race went pretty well after a decent start and clean first corner. I managed to find my way through a few cars until I managed to strike a problem going through the first chicane. I had my pitlane speed limiter coming on which restricted my speed massively, while trying to sort the problem out I lost a few places but kept going. This problem recurred a couple of times in the next laps before stopping. I lost a lot of time but pushed hard to gain it back. I managed to get on to the back of the group in head again and in the last lap made a move to the finish line which pushed my position up by 3 places! I finished in 13<sup>th</sup> and 4<sup>th</sup> rookie, this was my best result and the pace was pretty good throughout the race but was plagued by this issue.</p>
<p>Second qualifying went better still but with a few mistakes on my quickest lap stopping me from springing further up the grid. The whole entire 26 car field was separated by 1.4 seconds which is the closest ever that a grid in World Series by Renault has been separated by. I placed 21<sup>st</sup> in amongst that but if I managed to keep that lap clean I could of put myself in the top 13 so a decent effort but need to refine my qualifying pace.</p>
<p>The Second race started off very well making up a few places at the start and again keeping out of the mayhem. The only problem is after two laps I managed to put a stop to my luck with another driver turning in across me at the said first chicane corner. This took most of my front wing and nose box off but was ok to carry on. I dropped back a few places due to the poor handling of the car but managed to keep inside the top 18. My bag of luck fully depleted when my hydraulics of the car decided to start packing in which stopped me from changing gear. I had to reboot the system casually while braking down from top speed many times before the problem got so bad that I was having to switch off the car several times a lap. This really lost me so much time and decided to pull into the pit to save the tyres for Monaco as the issue was getting worse.</p>
<p>So the weekend didn’t quite connect as well as it could have done but with a 13<sup>th</sup> place there was progression over the weekend and getting more used to the series in general. Off to Monaco next where I will be a support race for the F1!</p>

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		<title>Spa-Francorchamps 2011</title>
		<link>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps-2011/</link>
		<comments>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps-2011/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 May 2011 18:51:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Formula 3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Race Reports 2011]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spa-Francorchamps 2011]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[daniel mckenzie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spa Francorchamps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World Series by Renault]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WSR]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/?p=971</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Coming to Spa is always a great experience for me. It is hands down the best circuit I have driven to date, so always look forward to this Belgium round. The first practice session was more about learning the circuit again on a partially greasy and green surface so the main thing was to just [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a  rel="attachment wp-att-975" href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps-2011/attachment/screen-shot-2011-05-27-at-19-28-15/"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-975" title="Screen shot 2011-05-27 at 19.28.15" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Screen-shot-2011-05-27-at-19.28.15-450x298.png" alt="" width="450" height="298" /></a>Coming to Spa is always a great experience for me. It is hands down the best circuit I have driven to date, so always look forward to this Belgium round.</p>
<p>The first practice session was more about learning the circuit again on a partially greasy and green surface so the main thing was to just get laps round the track. I had some work to do for the second session but hadn’t used new tyres yet and was on some old tyres that had been flat-spotted in the previous race event. In the second practice I progressed and took some time off the fastest lap but with the lap being as long as 2:04 and having around 17 corners you can lose time very easily. The problem I had on my new tyres was various yellow flags at corners and not getting the free space I needed so with plenty in reserve I ended up around the 22<sup>nd</sup> mark after the first day.</p>
<p><span id="more-971"></span></p>
<p>Qualifying again was looking like it could be wet with a very dull and grey outlook to the morning but after various other cars going round the circuit there was barely any water on the track. From being 2.5 seconds off on the first day I had some work cut out but knew where I could improve. I put in some decent times and improved my own personal best by 2 seconds, this was great in itself but the rest of the field improved my time by 1-1.5 seconds which put me 1.9 off the quickest time. I ended up 24<sup>th</sup> overall with 0.4 putting me inside the top 20. I think it was an OK effort but found that I got held up on my second set of tyres at the start of my best lap that stopped me from progressing further.</p>
<p>Later that day the first race arrived with some sun and clouds which increased track temperature a little and helped with more rubber and grip being laid on the track. I had a decent start but was forced into a first corner decision of taking the outside route, this usually isn’t a problem but other cars seemed to come together which caused me to go even further off the track onto the artificial grass and lost me valuable places. I kept on pushing throughout the race picking up a few places here and there, some of which were collisions directly in front of me. I finished in 19<sup>th</sup> place, an improvement in place but not as decent as I would of liked.</p>
<p>The second qualifying was on the Sunday morning and again a slightly gloomy outlook but still a dry track. This session was on the open downforce compared to the low down force setting in the first qual and race one. In this session we used only one set of new tyres out of the three available over the qualifying and races. I had a nice run of laps and made again big improvements which were of 1 second over my previous best time. The rest of the field made improvements also but not as much so I had a 1.5 second deficit to the quickest. I placed myself 24<sup>th</sup> with only 0.3 of a second putting me 13th! It was pretty close and again we had made good progress.</p>
<p>The last race incorporated mandatory pit-stops which are always very entertaining and can be great for making up a place or two. I had a decent start again avoiding a stalled car but found that the first corner was a bit hectic. I had to avoid some cars touching wheels but still made a good exit. I made a few places up at the start and came in after 6 laps in the window for the pit-stop. I was following Webb into the pit-lane at the same time and after making time up on the entry the team made a fantastic effort and got me out a split second before Webb which made a place up. The rest of the race was mainly about pushing on to catch the next group of cars while running in 17<sup>th</sup>. I caught the back of the group in front up but ran out of laps to do anything about it. I think the race went quite well and made some good places up. The very positive thing to take from this is the great progression throughout the race weekend with my lap times in the race being only 0.2-0.4 off the quickest which proves my pace.</p>
<p>Off to Monza next reaching speeds of around 185 MPH! Great circuit and certainly one of the most difficult I will come across this year.<br />

<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps-2011/attachment/screen-shot-2011-05-27-at-19-29-36/" title="Screen shot 2011-05-27 at 19.29.36"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Screen-shot-2011-05-27-at-19.29.36-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Screen shot 2011-05-27 at 19.29.36" title="Screen shot 2011-05-27 at 19.29.36" /></a>
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		<title>Motorland</title>
		<link>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/race-reports-2011/motorland/</link>
		<comments>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/race-reports-2011/motorland/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 May 2011 00:38:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Motorland 2011]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Race Reports 2011]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[daniel mckenzie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motorland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[round 1]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World Series by Renault]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/?p=950</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Coming to the first race of the year is always a bit nerve racking. I have tested at Motorland a fair bit so at least I returned to a circuit that I know for a baptism of fire in Formula Renault 3.5. Over winter I had been testing at various circuits from Barcelona, Motorland and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a  rel="attachment wp-att-952" href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/race-reports-2011/motorland/attachment/screen-shot-2011-05-10-at-00-49-43/"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-952" title="Screen shot 2011-05-10 at 00.49.43" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Screen-shot-2011-05-10-at-00.49.43-450x310.png" alt="" width="450" height="310" /></a>Coming to the first race of the year is always a bit nerve racking. I have tested at Motorland a fair bit so at least I returned to a circuit that I know for a baptism of fire in Formula Renault 3.5. Over winter I had been testing at various circuits from Barcelona, Motorland and Paul Ricard that had got me up to speed in the new car. I found it hard initially getting used to the power and size of the machine but after many laps and sets of tyres I had become quite used to the car.</p>
<p><span id="more-950"></span></p>
<p>The weekend started off reasonably well putting me 19<sup>th</sup> out of 26 cars in the first practice session. This was on the “open downforce” setting that is always in the first of two practice sessions. I found the car was a little bit tricky with a “green” circuit or also know as a circuit that hasn’t got much rubber down on the tarmac. I made a bit of a mistake on my new set of tyres and locked up the wheels under the heavy braking, this made the rest of the session a bit tricky as there was heavy vibration after this.</p>
<p>The second practice session was on the “low downforce” set-up which would prove more difficult as there is less available grip due to the lower angle on the rear and front wings. The idea behind the “open” and “low” downforce settings is to make the races more interesting and add another dimension of difficulty to the series. I ended up 20<sup>th</sup> overall which wasn’t quite as good as the first session but with the times being so close with only 0.1 of a second moving me up 3 places! I found the car had a bit of understeer which needed to be sorted out for the qualifying and race, this was mainly due to the circuit gripping up and with more grip the rear tyres picking more of that grip than the front due to the larger surface area of the tyre itself.</p>
<p>The first qualifying was a bit of an eye opener as putting in a decent time with limited laps and yellow flags due to various people spinning off made the task of setting a fast time very tricky. I felt there was a lot more potential in the car to set a better time but these issues of traffic and yellow flags held me back. When a yellow flag is show you have to slow down and reduce speed otherwise you can get a penalty for disobeying the rules. 24<sup>th</sup> was the position I would be starting which is quite disappointing but I knew at least I had a better car than the position I ended up. Also again 0.1/0.2 of a second would put me around 15 so very close.</p>
<p>After qualifying on the low downforce set-up the race in the after would follow suit. The start to the race was pretty decent but I found the first corner was a little interesting with a massive bundle of 6 cars across trying to all get round at once. I struggled a little bit with the car throughout the race but after a few little tussles with my own team mate I settled down in to 18<sup>th</sup> place where I found a processional race to the finish flag. Good first race in terms of getting the first hurdle out of the way but room for improvement. This car is quite tricky to overtake in and without doing something very brave at this circuit you can end up following the person in front for a long time until a mistake is made by the guy in front.</p>
<p>The second qualifying was on the Sunday on the open downforce setting which would be generating more downforce and grip than the low downforce setting. This qualifying session was a lot better but still not quite there with what a good set-up would be. I ended up in 18<sup>th</sup> with 0.2 of a second putting me 9<sup>th</sup>! This was very close but good improvement over the previous day. The problem with going from the previous day is that I went from a race set-up on low downforce to a qualifying set-up on higher downforce. The more experienced drivers will always benefit from having more knowledge of the car in circumstances like this.</p>
<p>The second race included a pitstop in which two tyres would have to be changed. I have never done a pitstop in a race with tyre changing involved but have had much practice during the winter with this. The start to the race was initially very good in making up about 4 places by the first corner, only problem is some other driver decided it would be a good idea to drive over my front wheel which bent the wheel and pushed me slightly into the car ahead. The car did not feel very good after this collision but decided to carry on in the race regardless; I was running in 14<sup>th</sup> place at this time.  After pushing hard in the first 5 laps of the race it was time to come in for a pit stop. I was quite excited about my first tyre change in a pitstop but after stopping on the marks it soon became apparent that the left wheel gun had malfunctioned and left me with only one front wheel on the car for about 10 seconds which lost me a load of places. On top of that mishap my front wing broke off after 1 lap due to the collision in the first corner. The front jack must have damaged the wing in the pit-stop and this made me take another pit-stop to get a new wing. By this time I had lost a load of places and ended up 23 overall.  I managed to get myself amongst the top 6-8 in terms of lap times even with a slightly damaged car after everything that had happened.</p>
<p>Not quite the result I wanted in my first race but there was some very good parts to the weekend which can be taken onboard for the next race at Spa Francorchamps.<br />

<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/race-reports-2011/motorland/attachment/screen-shot-2011-05-10-at-00-49-43/" title="Screen shot 2011-05-10 at 00.49.43"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Screen-shot-2011-05-10-at-00.49.43-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Screen shot 2011-05-10 at 00.49.43" title="Screen shot 2011-05-10 at 00.49.43" /></a>
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</p>
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		<title>Spa-Francorchamps</title>
		<link>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps/</link>
		<comments>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:57:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Formula 3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Photo Galleries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Race Reports 2010]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spa-Francorchamps Round 6]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[daniel mckenzie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spa Francorchamps]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/?p=900</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ultimately this is my favourite circuit of all time, nothing comes close to it. I love the high speed corners and the rapid chicanes. After my win at Rockingham I was looking forward to getting in another here. The practice sessions were wet and dry which made knowing your time in relation to others tricky [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left;"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-905" title="2010 BF3 R06" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Spa-2010-3.jpg" alt="" width="352" height="288" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Ultimately this is my favourite circuit of all time, nothing comes close to it. I love the high speed corners and the rapid chicanes. After my win at Rockingham I was looking forward to getting in another here.<br />
<span id="more-900"></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The practice sessions were wet and dry which made knowing your time in relation to others tricky on a ever changing grip track. I went into qualifying not knowing fully how much pace I had but it all became apparent that there certainly was a lot of pace in the Fortec car. I managed to get into 3<sup>rd</sup> for the third race and 6<sup>th</sup> for the first. Decent result but I knew there was more pace available.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The start to the first race was pretty tricky as I managed to get far too much wheel spin which did not help me into the first corner. I managed to get into 5<sup>th</sup> early on after battling hard but after struggling with the car as it had very little rear end grip I lost the place to put me back in 6<sup>th</sup> where I finished.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">I started on the front row for the 2<sup>nd</sup> race due to the reverse grid, I had another average start which put me into 3<sup>rd</sup> straight away where I had to fend off James Calardo for 5 laps of the race and doing so I secure a nice podium finish behind Jean Eric Verge and Felipe Nasr. Decent result seeing as the car was really quite poor on traction and I was struggling with the balance quite a bit.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The last race I started from 3<sup>rd</sup> place after a decent qualifying, directly behind my team mate Oli. I made sure my tyres were very warm and sticky after the last couple of races and getting far too much wheel spin. The problem was the track temperature had risen leaving me with four tyres practically glued to the tarmac. I didn’t think enough about the situation I was in and managed to stall on the grid. I was pretty annoyed to say the least but made a very good recovery drive coming back from 26<sup>th</sup> on the grid to 10<sup>th</sup> overall and 8<sup>th</sup> in the international class. The drive was very precise and aggressive in getting past many cars and learning a valuable lesson about starts.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The whole weekend was half decent but could have been a lot more successful. I now need to make good use of a strong car I have underneath me and get some wins! My next race is at my home circuit of Thruxton, I will make a good opportunity stick this time.</p>

<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps/attachment/2010-bf3-r06-3/" title="2010 BF3 R06"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Spa-2010-3-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="2010 BF3 R06" title="2010 BF3 R06" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps/attachment/2010-bf3-r06-6/" title="2010 BF3 R06"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Spa-2010-6-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="2010 BF3 R06" title="2010 BF3 R06" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps/attachment/2010-bf3-r06-7/" title="2010 BF3 R06"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Spa-2010-7-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="2010 BF3 R06" title="2010 BF3 R06" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps/attachment/2010-bf3-r06-5/" title="2010 BF3 R06"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Spa-2010-5-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="2010 BF3 R06" title="2010 BF3 R06" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps/attachment/2010-bf3-r06/" title="2010 BF3 R06"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Spa-2010-1-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="2010 BF3 R06" title="2010 BF3 R06" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps/attachment/2010-bf3-r06-2/" title="2010 BF3 R06"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Spa-2010-2-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="2010 BF3 R06" title="2010 BF3 R06" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps/attachment/2010-bf3-r06-4/" title="2010 BF3 R06"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Spa-2010-4-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="2010 BF3 R06" title="2010 BF3 R06" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/spa-francorchamps/attachment/2010-bf3-r06-8/" title="2010 BF3 R06"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Spa-2010-8-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="2010 BF3 R06" title="2010 BF3 R06" /></a>

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		<title>Rockingham Round 5</title>
		<link>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/rockingham-round-5/</link>
		<comments>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/rockingham-round-5/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:15:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Formula 3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Photo Galleries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Race Reports 2010]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rockingham Round 5]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[daniel mckenzie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rockingham]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/?p=860</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Rockingham has always been a low grip surface which is very hard on tyres. I quite like the circuit with a mix of everything, and being one of the only anti-clock clock-wise circuits. I had a nice result at Hockenheim to which I hoped to progress further and get some more results here. The practice went [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a  rel="attachment wp-att-865" href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/rockingham-round-5/attachment/pitstop/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-865" title="Pitstop" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Pitstop.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="426" /></a></p>
<p>Rockingham has always been a low grip surface which is very hard on tyres. I quite like the circuit with a mix of everything, and being one of the only anti-clock clock-wise circuits. I had a nice result at Hockenheim to which I hoped to progress further and get some more results here.</p>
<p><span id="more-860"></span></p>
<p>The practice went well putting in some quick times and getting in the top 5. Qualifying turned out to be pretty disappointing as I managed to outbrake myself on the 3<sup>rd</sup> flying lap of the session, from thing when trying to turn around the engine stalled and I could not get restarted with “outside” assistance. I was not allowed to continue the rest of qualifying so ended up 14<sup>th</sup> and 12<sup>th</sup> for race 1 and 3.</p>
<p>The first race was a good progression starting 14<sup>th</sup> and finishing in the points at 8<sup>th</sup> place. I drove a decent race getting past a few drivers early on and making good use of the quick car that Fortec have provided me with.</p>
<p>For the pitstop race I was starting 3<sup>rd</sup> on the grid, I made a pretty poor start dropping down to 4<sup>th</sup>. I made this place back after 2 laps putting me in 3<sup>rd</sup>; I pushed to get up to Adriano Buzzaid and after 8 laps of following closely I made my move and just in the nick of time. Nakajima in front of me came in for his pit stop which gave me the lead and a 2 second gap to make up before I took my pitstop. I pushed like mad and managing to get the fastest lap by 0.4 of a second. I took my pit stop on the last possible lap and after a good pit entry decent stop and stop I managed to pip Nakajima and come out on top. I continued to push for the last two laps of the race and I brought home my first win of the season!</p>
<p>The 2<sup>nd</sup> race was great and still buzzing from the result I made a good start which gave me a good run into the first corner. There was contact between Oli Webb and Jean Eric Verge which cased loads of problem; I got tangled up in amongst the other cars which put me way down the order. I had to push to get past the other cars in front of me but round Rockingham there is very limited overtaking places and after a long 40 minutes race and my tyres being very used I had to settle for 10<sup>th</sup> place and taking the last point position.</p>
<p>I really enjoyed Rockingham with a great result and was really looking forward to my next outing at Spa which is my favourite circuit of all time.</p>

<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/rockingham-round-5/attachment/pitstop/" title="Pitstop"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Pitstop-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Pitstop" title="Pitstop" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/rockingham-round-5/attachment/podium-4/" title="Podium"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Podium-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Podium" title="Podium" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/rockingham-round-5/attachment/pits/" title="Pits"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Pits-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Pits" title="Pits" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/rockingham-round-5/attachment/pit-lane/" title="Pit Lane"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Pit-Lane-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Pit Lane" title="Pit Lane" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/rockingham-round-5/attachment/the-win/" title="The Win"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/The-Win-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="The Win" title="The Win" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/rockingham-round-5/attachment/leadin/" title="Leading"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Leadin-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Leading" title="Leading" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/rockingham-round-5/attachment/finish-line-3/" title="Finish Line"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Finish-Line-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Finish Line" title="Finish Line" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/rockingham-round-5/attachment/in-field/" title="In field"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/In-field1-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="In field" title="In field" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/rockingham-round-5/attachment/tarzan-harpin/" title="Tarzan Harpin"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Tarzan-Harpin-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Tarzan Harpin" title="Tarzan Harpin" /></a>

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		<title>Hockenheim Round 4</title>
		<link>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/hockenheim-round-4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/hockenheim-round-4/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:56:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/?p=833</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After Magny-Cours I was pretty confident of my pace as proved previously and was looking forward to making some lost ground up in Germany. I have always liked the circuit with its relatively high speed straights and fast flowing corners. The last time I was at Hockenheim I won a race and got punted off [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a  rel="attachment wp-att-845" href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/hockenheim-round-4/attachment/2010-bf3-r04-7/"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-845" title="2010 BF3 R04" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Podium-finish.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="425" /></a><br />
After Magny-Cours I was pretty confident of my pace as proved previously and was looking forward to making some lost ground up in Germany. I have always liked the circuit with its relatively high speed straights and fast flowing corners. The last time I was at Hockenheim I won a race and got punted off in the other so I had mixed thoughts!<span id="more-833"></span></p>
<p>The first couple of practice sessions proved to be quite hard as there had been quite a bit of strange rubber that was laid on the circuit; this was mainly from drift series and trackdays that had been round previously. I struggled with the car a bit but had put in the odd quick time so was not too disappointed with the first day.</p>
<p>Qualifying was a different ball game as the grip levels were raising as the time went on and getting a decent clear lap is crucial, due to the high speed corners. I managed an average lap on my first set of tyres and was planning to make good ground on the second set. Unfortunately the oil cooler was leaking and had to be replaced. I missed out on track time and did not go any faster. I was starting 10<sup>th</sup> for the first and third race.</p>
<p>After a disappointing qualifying I was looking forward to making up good ground. I had a great start to the race by getting passed many a car on the first few laps before settling down to a decent pace. I had pressure from previously passed James Calardo but managed to fend him off by putting in some consistent lap times. As it happened due to the first corner of this track having tarmac after the curb it meant you could use this to your advantage but due to this being a track limit it was illegal to do so. I made sure I did not pass this limit unlike others who soon after got penalised for doing so, this bumped me up a couple of places and I managed to get my first podium of the year finishing the race in third.</p>
<p>After a decent first race the reverse grid placed me in 7<sup>th</sup> which was going to make progress hard as there was a fair few quick drivers in front of me. After a normal start I managed to get tangled in a bit of a moment in front of me which pushed me back several place. I pushed hard with a car that didn’t quite suit the conditions and pulled back to finish 11<sup>th</sup> after what turned out to be a pretty eventful race.</p>
<p>The Third race I started 10<sup>th</sup> again to which I planned to make good progress but with over eagerness I ran too wide into turn 1 too many times and got penalised with a drive through penalty. This pushed me far down the ranks in about 17<sup>th</sup> place to which I fought back to getting myself into 11<sup>th</sup> place fighting for 10<sup>th</sup> and the last point given. I pushed hard and managed to get myself behind Alex Brundle, I tried a move around the outside of the Mercedes complex corner but got pushed slightly wide over a large sleeping policeman curb, I got airborne and lost many places. I also got a penalty at the end for going over the track limits again regardless of the fact I was 4 feet in the air, so very nice marshalling there. I finished 16<sup>th</sup> overall in the final race</p>
<p>Overall it was a good result to come on the podium that weekend and I wanted to progress from there and grab myself a few more podiums in the next race!</p>
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		<title>Magny-Cours Round 3</title>
		<link>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/magny-cours-round-3/</link>
		<comments>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/magny-cours-round-3/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 May 2010 19:11:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Formula 3]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/?p=805</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I turned up to Magny-Cours and the weather was like an English summer, really warm and very pleasant. Coming from Silverstone last race I had taken a few bits of important information with me that will help me out. After walking around the circuit a lot of memories came back to me when I was [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/magny-cours-round-3/attachment/wide-line/" title="Wide Line"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Wide-Line-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Wide Line" title="Wide Line" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/magny-cours-round-3/attachment/portrait/" title="Portrait"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Portrait-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Portrait" title="Portrait" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/magny-cours-round-3/attachment/close-up/" title="Close up"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Close-up-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Close up" title="Close up" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/magny-cours-round-3/attachment/down-the-inside-2/" title="Down the inside"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Down-the-inside-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Down the inside" title="Down the inside" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/magny-cours-round-3/attachment/down-the-straight/" title="Down the Straight"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Down-the-Straight-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Down the Straight" title="Down the Straight" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/magny-cours-round-3/attachment/under-my-umbrella/" title="Under my Umbrella"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Under-my-Umbrella-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Under my Umbrella" title="Under my Umbrella" /></a>

<p>I turned up to Magny-Cours and the weather was like an English summer, really warm and very pleasant. Coming from Silverstone last race I had taken a few bits of important information with me that will help me out.<span id="more-805"></span></p>
<p>After walking around the circuit a lot of memories came back to me when I was last racing there in Formula Renault Eurocup. I am pretty familiar with the track but a few things do fade over time but do come back to you very quickly after a few laps around the track. At the start of the weekend I hoped to finish on the podium as I think my time is more than overdue this year. The car has shown good pace in previous races and on a test day prior to Magny-Cours, I thought there was a real possibility to having a very good result.</p>
<p><a  rel="attachment wp-att-813" href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/magny-cours-round-3/attachment/under-my-umbrella/"><img class="size-full wp-image-813 alignleft" title="Under my Umbrella" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Under-my-Umbrella.jpg" alt="" width="230" height="154" /></a></p>
<p>Practice came on the Friday afternoon in a block of three hours without any breaks. The practice went very well as I managed to put in the 2nd best time until the latter part of the session. I struggled to find a lap without traffic on my second set of tyres which put me back a few places. I ended day one in 8th position but I knew I had a lot more pace than what was actually shown on the time sheets.</p>
<p>Qualifying was early in the morning with the air being denser which gives the engine more power and also gives the car more downforce, times were going to be quick. The idea in qualifying this year is to get two fast laps out of the car as your 1st quickest time sets your grid position for the first race and your second fastest time setting the grid position for the 3rd race, the second race is determined by the result of the 1st race.<br />
On my first set of tyres I went 2nd quickest and on my second set of tyres I ended up with two 3rd positions for the races, great progress from the previous races this year. I was very confident going into the first race as I knew now that I and the car had very good pace.</p>
<p>The first race was in the afternoon after qualifying to which I was slightly apprehensive as this was my best result in qualifying this year. Starting on third was always going to be tricky but as I soon found out it was going to be a bit harder than I first expected. The race started very badly with Verge in pole position almost stalling which meant I had to drive around him creating a lot of wheelspin and losing out on one place. I thought I could recover that but by the first harpin I had a nice shove from Svendsen-Cook, this spun me round and put me back to last. I fought back with a poorly car and ended up in 13th place.</p>
<p>After race one I was a bit annoyed at my possibly the best potential race so far but this is racing I guess. I started off the race from a half decent grid slot hoping to make some decent moves and get up into the top ten. The race turned out to be very strange with the first red flagged race this year. After a good start and making up a couple places, James Calardo rolled his car into the main harpin after the very long straight. The crash looked messy but turned out that it was relatively slow speed and he was alright. The restart went well and made my way up through a couple cars to put myself in an 8th place finish. The sprint race was very short due to the lost time on the red flag so it was all over before it really started. <a  rel="attachment wp-att-810" href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/magny-cours-round-3/attachment/down-the-inside-2/"><img class="size-full wp-image-810 alignright" title="Down the inside" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Down-the-inside.jpg" alt="" width="230" height="154" /></a></p>
<p>The third race was a good opportunity to get my first podium finish of the year and after a decent start and staying in 3rd for the first two corners this was very much possible. Well it turned out I out braked myself in the 180 harpin corner and Dias managed to sneak one down the inside. I pushed for quite a few laps to try and keep right up with him but I could not push the car quite as hard as I would have liked. I found the car to be quite twitchy and due to the high temps of the afternoon the car just got worse. I struggled to keep James Calardo behind me for more than three laps and afterwards I had a processional race to the finish with a car that wasn’t quite as quick as I would have liked. I came in my best of the year so far 5th position finish.</p>
<p>Magny-Cours proved to be eventful but also successful in some ways. I had my best finish but there was real potential of a podium finish. I hope to carry this on to Hockienhiem in Germany and get the results that I deserve! Overall it was a great weekend and one to remember.</p>
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		<title>Silverstone Arena Round 2</title>
		<link>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/silverstone-arena-round-2/</link>
		<comments>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/silverstone-arena-round-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 May 2010 09:57:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/?p=774</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After Oulton Park I came away with decent points on the table after a hard first weekend. Silverstone is the first race that I have had the full updates on the car, and I was looking forward to getting some more decent points on the board. The beginning to the weekend went well with the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a  rel="attachment wp-att-781" href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/silverstone-arena-round-2/attachment/buckled-up/"><img class="size-full wp-image-781 alignleft" title="Buckled up" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Buckled-up.jpg" alt="" width="154" height="230" /></a>After Oulton Park I came away with decent points on the table after a hard first weekend. Silverstone is the first race that I have had the full updates on the car, and I was looking forward to getting some more decent points on the board.<span id="more-774"></span></p>
<p>The beginning to the weekend went well with the first practice session being 3<sup>rd </sup>quickest which was a good start. The second session didn’t seem to go so well with various bits of bad luck during my new tyre run.</p>
<p>Qualifying was first thing on the Saturday and I thought I was in with a good shout of a result. After getting nearly pushed into the wall on my first set of tyres by a absent minded driver I did not get a great time and so had to try and get a better time on my second set of new tyres in that same session. The second set didn’t go so well and I didn’t connect with the car very well leaving me back in 14<sup>th</sup> position for the first race and 14<sup>th</sup> for the 3<sup>rd</sup> race.</p>
<p>The qualifying session wasn’t so good and I had to make up some ground on the next few races to try and get some points for the championship. I made sure my tyres were well up to temperature for the start of the first race and doing so I managed to get a clean decent get away which pushed me up a few places. The only issue was the battery was shorting out which was directly underneath me which meant I had a lot of smoke floating around the cockpit. Least to say this was not helping me concentrate or helping my lungs! I kept pushing that race and managed to 12<sup>th</sup>, a half decent starting point for the next sprint race.</p>
<p>The sprint race turned out to be wet which mixed a few things up but with limited visibility it was always going to be a tricky race around a fairly slippery circuit. The overall race was Ok with a good start and consistent pace. I finished 10<sup>th</sup> for the race with one mistake on my behalf that put me down a few places.</p>
<p>The final race I started from 13<sup>th</sup> position which made a lot of work but over the distance of 40 minutes I could make up a big deficit if I drove the car sensibly but aggressively. The start to this race was awful, the tyres were very sticky with the weather being quite warm and the previous races creating some good grip on the floor. I stalled on the grid which was my fault entirely after not realising how quickly the flywheel on the car stops if you don’t give the car enough revs. After a poor start to the race I pushed really hard to make up the lost time and doing so produced some decent lap times, at the end of the race I had the 2<sup>nd</sup> quickest lap time. I did manage to fight my way back up to 12<sup>th</sup> which was a strong effort from the back (26<sup>th</sup>).</p>
<p>Overall the weekend was not very good but I did learn quite a few important things to do and not to do for the next race in Magny-Cours. I am really looking forward to my first race of the year in Europe and I plan on marking my mark there. I think it’s time to get some very good results and make up the big points deficit that current I have. The weekend was enjoyable on the new Silverstone Arena circuit and I have made a set forward in terms of pace.<br />

<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/silverstone-arena-round-2/attachment/over-crest-2/" title="Over crest"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Over-crest-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Over crest" title="Over crest" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/silverstone-arena-round-2/attachment/buckled-up/" title="Buckled up"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Buckled-up-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Buckled up" title="Buckled up" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/silverstone-arena-round-2/attachment/turn-3/" title="Turn 3"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Turn-3-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Turn 3" title="Turn 3" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/silverstone-arena-round-2/attachment/pre-race/" title="Pre race"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Pre-race-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Pre race" title="Pre race" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/silverstone-arena-round-2/attachment/turn-4/" title="Turn 4"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Turn-4-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Turn 4" title="Turn 4" /></a>
</p>
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		<title>Oulton Park Round 1</title>
		<link>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/oulton-park-round-1/</link>
		<comments>http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/oulton-park-round-1/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:38:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/?p=756</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Returning back to Oulton Park this year was a great feeling after having such a successful start to my previous year in F3. I had worked hard over the winter break on fitness preparing myself for a three race weekend, which would be a great opportunity for lots of track time. The weekend started off [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/DANIEL-MCKENZIE-033.jpg" class="thickbox no_icon" rel="gallery-756" title="In the car"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-762" title="In the car" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/DANIEL-MCKENZIE-033-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a>Returning back to Oulton Park this year was a great feeling after having such a successful start to my previous year in F3. I had worked hard over the winter break on fitness preparing myself for a three race weekend, which would be a great opportunity for lots of track time.</p>
<p><span id="more-756"></span>The weekend started off slightly problematically with a gearcut issue in qualifying which made it hard to concentrate on getting the best out of the car, this was made worse as I had no previous practice the day before unlike normally. I pushed hard to make up time on a damp track but lost some momentum with yellow flags out on circuit and after the 30 minute session I ended up 13<sup>th</sup> place for the 1<sup>st</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup> race with the result of the second race to be decided on the finishing position of the 1<sup>st</sup> race. It wasn’t a start that I would have hoped for but as there are 30 races over the year there was no need to worry about the first race.</p>
<p><a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/DANIEL-MCKENZIE-029.jpg" class="thickbox no_icon" rel="gallery-756" title="Pre-race"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-761" title="Pre-race" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/DANIEL-MCKENZIE-029-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a>Going into the first race the pressure was off and I had the mentality of having a great start to the race and trying to get into the top 8 as a decent target on a very hard overtaking circuit. The start to my race was essential, and after a good tyre warming up lap I made a very good start getting into 10<sup>th</sup> place on the first lap. I kept hunting down the pair of cars in front of me and once getting up to the back of Will Buller I got passed pretty easily after a mistake gave me a perfect opportunity. I pushed to get to the back of Jaafar but the lack of laps left made this impossible to get past. I finished the 1<sup>st</sup> race in 9<sup>th</sup> position.</p>
<p>The second race was a sprint of 20 minutes which would prove to be very interesting. I started 9<sup>th</sup> for the second race and like the first race a decent start could make a big difference. I managed to get up into 7<sup>th</sup> place after making some places up on the start (getting past my team mate on the grass!) which put me in 7<sup>th</sup> by the first lap. I was behind Jaafar again for the rest of the race as was very difficult to pass on this circuit.</p>
<p><a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/DANIEL-MCKENZIE-034.jpg" class="thickbox no_icon" rel="gallery-756" title="On the grid"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-763" title="On the grid" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/DANIEL-MCKENZIE-034-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a>The Third and final race saw me starting in 13<sup>th</sup> place again and with hopes of finishing in the top ten again I was very focused for the race. I had a decent start again which put me up into 10<sup>th</sup> place on the first lap getting past Jaafar on the first opening lap. I pursued Alex Brundle and caught up to the back of him, I tried many many moves to try and get past but to be fair to the guy he drove a sensible defensive race. It’s a shame I didn’t have much free air as the car felt very decent and was producing some very good times. I finished the last race in 10<sup>th</sup> position scooping some points.</p>
<p>Overall it was a solid performance with room to improve but the main thing is the first race is out the way and I scored points in every race. I plan on finishing in the top 5 at Silverstone and with any luck pushing on the top three for my first podium finish on the year.</p>

<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/oulton-park-round-1/attachment/oulton/" title="Banked corner"><img width="150" height="108" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Oulton-150x108.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Banked corner" title="Banked corner" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/oulton-park-round-1/attachment/daniel-mckenzie-033/" title="In the car"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/DANIEL-MCKENZIE-033-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="In the car" title="In the car" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/oulton-park-round-1/attachment/daniel-mckenzie-029/" title="Pre-race"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/DANIEL-MCKENZIE-029-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Pre-race" title="Pre-race" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/oulton-park-round-1/attachment/daniel-mckenzie-020/" title="Interview"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/DANIEL-MCKENZIE-020-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Interview" title="Interview" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/oulton-park-round-1/attachment/daniel-mckenzie-002/" title="In the Pits"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/DANIEL-MCKENZIE-002-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="In the Pits" title="In the Pits" /></a>
<a  href="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/formula-3/oulton-park-round-1/attachment/daniel-mckenzie-034/" title="On the grid"><img width="150" height="150" src="http://www.danielmckenzie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/DANIEL-MCKENZIE-034-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="On the grid" title="On the grid" /></a>

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